A committee of University of Colorado faculty members tasked with reviewing what happened to tenured sociology professor Patti Adler determined that administrators failed to follow several university policies and procedures and, in doing so, violated her academic freedom and tarnished her reputation.

"The committee finds that the failure of the administration (the chair of sociology and the deans) to follow established policy and procedures proved costly to professor Adler, the university's reputation and academic freedom," according to the committee's report, which was made public Thursday.

The ad hoc committee of the Boulder Faculty Assembly, made up of seven faculty members, was created in January to identify the facts in the Adler situation, what policies were or were not followed, if there were any academic freedom violations and how to prevent a similar situation going forward.

Peggy Jobe, a faculty member in CU's libraries and the committee chairwoman, explained the group's findings at a meeting of the faculty assembly late Thursday afternoon.

Among them:

The Office of Discrimination and Harassment visited Adler's "Deviance in U.S. Society" class without her knowledge, which created a culture of fear among the faculty and violated her academic freedom. The committee recommended that the office review its policies, and include that it will not attend classes.

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Administrators failed to follow established procedures when they sanctioned Adler by removing her from "Deviance," and they did not inform Adler of her rights as a faculty member, including her right to appeal that sanction.

The situation tarnished Adler's reputation, and the committee recommended that the university take steps to repair that damage.

The committee recommended broadly that administrators and faculty members review and better understand university policies, including faculty rights and responsibilities, and revisit or clarify some policies, including those of the Office of Discrimination and Harassment.

"I agree with the report's main recommendation that the most effective way to move the campus forward is continued and consistent collaboration between faculty, administration and students," DiStefano said in the statement. "I will ensure that we achieve a better understanding of faculty and student rights and responsibilities, of (Office of Discrimination and Harassment) processes and the role of administrative oversight of these same processes."

A university spokesman declined to comment further.

Adler: 'Gratified'

Adler, who is not a member of the faculty assembly, attended the meeting.

The professor gained international attention last semester when administrators removed her from teaching her 500-person "Deviance" course, which includes a lecture on prostitution.

That lecture includes a skit using undergraduate teaching assistants, who portray various types of prostitutes and pimps.

Officials, who eventually reinstated Adler, said they heard from students who felt coerced into participating in the skit.

Adler maintained that her students acted in the skit willingly and always had the option not to participate. She has since announced her retirement at the end of May and has canceled the skit in her spring semester class.

In an interview with the Camera, Adler said she was mostly pleased with the committee's findings, but wished it would have addressed other issues, such as the administration's attempts to force her into early retirement through threats that she would be fired if she stayed at the university and one complainant came forward.

"I was gratified that they found no fault with me and placed wrongdoing entirely on the administration," she said. "They spelled out several severe violations of policy, and I do wish it had gone further."

Adler said the campuswide message sent by Provost Russ Moore did the most damage to her reputation. In that message, Moore suggested that Adler may have violated the university's sexual harassment policy.

Several outside organizations have called for Moore to rescind that statement and apologize to Adler. Through campus spokesmen, he has declined.

Adler said she would be surprised if the administration accepted the committee's recommendation to repair her reputation.

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